MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. (CBS12) — The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) said deputies have arrested a woman for operating an alleged puppy mill in Central Florida, leaving the dogs in deplorable conditions.
On Wednesday, Sheriff Wayne Ivey held a news conference at 955 E. Crisafulli Street in Merritt Island — the scene of the major animal cruelty arrest.
“The conditions here are horrific,” Sheriff Ivey said.
The sheriff’s office said there were over 20 complaints, dating as far back as 2016. The sheriff’s office said there were three locations that deputies visited — the home on E. Crisafulli Street, a residence next door, and a commercial property on Mustang Lane in Cocoa.
In each instance, 37-year-old Elisabeth Cleveland and her spouse, would not let deputies in, Sheriff Ivey said.
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“They would stonewall us. They would basically tell us to go to hell, that we weren’t coming on the property, that we won’t be allowed to examine the property, and to come back when we have a search warrant,” Sheriff Ivey said.
Cleveland faces a total of 76 counts — 38 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and 38 counts of unlawful confinement without food, water, and exercise — after deputies acquired an inspection warrant for the location on Mustang Lane. Sheriff Ivey says additional counts are pending once the other two locations are searched. Her bond was set at $114,000.
Sheriff Ivey went on to describe the horrible conditions the dogs were living in.
Cleveland allegedly told the sheriff’s office all she had to do was provide shelter, food, and water. Sheriff Ivey said, “Trust me when I tell you folks, this b**** wasn’t giving them anything like that.”
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On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office arrived at the residence on E. Crisafulli Street to arrest Cleveland and to search the property. Ivey said the state of the home should be condemned, and that the dogs were living under floorboards.
“When we went on the premises there we found that the animals didn’t have any cover, they were out in the heat. Their water pails had mold in it, they had algae in it, they had tadpoles in it,” Sheriff Ivey said. “Their food dishes had vomit in it, there was some blood, some feces with blood in it all around,” Sheriff Ivey said.
Ivey then expressed his biggest frustration with this arrest, the igloo-style dog houses. Ivey said that was the only form of cover the pups had, and the inside temperature reached well over 100 degrees.
“We found dogs with open wounds, we found dogs with eye infections, a dog with a broken leg,” Sheriff Ivey stated. He also voiced his concern that at least two of the dogs wouldn’t make it off of the property due to the poor state they were in.
The sheriff’s office said it is working to get a third search warrant for the last residence, 965 E. Crisafulli Street where Cleveland and her partner live, since there are more dogs there.
“One of them are standing in a puddle of water, that’s where they’re living at,” Sheriff Ivey said. “We couldn’t even tell what type of dogs they were.”
Sheriff Ivey says the sheriff’s office will most likely remove about 100 dogs from all the properties once they’re done.
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